Effective Meeting Minutes: Know all the basics and fundamentals of creating minutes for all the meetings you attend.
Effective Meeting Minutes
Why Meeting Minutes Matter: o Capture the essential information of a meeting o Keep attendees on track by reminding them of their role in a project
Before the Meeting:
o Date and Time of the meeting o Purpose of the meeting o Meeting lead or chair’s name o Assigned action items o Decisions made o Gather as much information from the host such as the purpose so you won’t have to scramble trying to figure out what is going on. o Ask for a list of attendees and as people walk in the room check them off the list. Introduce yourself to the attendees you aren’t familiar with, this will be helpful later when recording assigned tasks or decisions
During the Meeting:
After the Meeting:
o Number your pages as you go so you won’t get confused later o Focus on action items not discussion-the purpose of the minutes is to define decisions made and to record what actions are to be taken by whom and when o Be objective, write in the same tense, and avoid using people’s names except for motions or seconds o Avoid inflammatory or personal observations. Dull writing is key to appropriate minutes o If you need to refer to other documents, attach them in an appendix, do not try to rewrite or summarize
Icebreakers: Fun games to "break the ice" at any gathering.
Icebreaker Introductions Find 2 other people with the same color on – introduce, favorite color
Find 2 other people with the same favorite color (or at least a close version) – introduce and what’s their favorite thing to wear
Identify if you’re a cat, dog, fish or no pet person (symbols assigned). Now find 3 other people doing the same
Identify if you’re a Slinky, Yo-Yo or Jump Rope person (symbols assigned). Now find 4 other people doing the same action – introduce and what was your favorite toy growing up
Silently, get into groups according to your birthday month. Once this happens, which group can line up in birthday order the fastest without talking?
Rock, Paper, Scissor Extreme You play this energizer in the normal “rock, paper, scissors” fashion. Pair the participants off. Once the winner and the loser are established, the loser must follow the winner around for the rest of the activity. The winner must find another winner to compete again, and re-evaluate the terms winner and loser. While the winner plays another winner, the loser must cheer the person on. Eventually, you are left with two people fighting with a large crowd of supporters behind them.
Get-to-Know You ICEBREAKERS The Blanket Approach Have your group divide itself into two groups. Tell them to sit on the floor facing each other. Hold up a blanket between the groups so that each team cannot see the other. A member of each team is quietly selected to move up to the blanket. On the count of three, drop the blanket so each of the selected members is facing each other. Whoever says the other person’s name first, wins. The “loser” goes to the other team.
Common Links This activity provides a great visual for the group to see just how much everyone has in common, and it also encourages participants to get to know each other and build levels of trust. Start with a large piece of banner paper – big enough for everyone to write their name on the paper. Give everyone a chance to mingle and find out things they have in common. This might be anything from being involved in SGA to both liking “Grey’s Anatomy” to being named “Class Clown” in their high school yearbook. On the large piece of paper, have people write traits, characteristics or experiences that they have in common with other people. They can draw arrows that connect one person to another or you can give them strips of paper to make a paper chain, connecting their “common links” with one another.
Fly By Give each person a scrap piece of paper to make a paper airplane. On that plane, have them each write five facts about themselves. Then, when everyone is ready, have them throw their airplanes straight up. Each person will pick up a random airplane, read aloud the five facts and guess who in the room wrote them.
Headliners Each member of the group is asked to reflect on his/her freshman year experience. After pondering this issue for several minutes, the facilitator will distribute newsprint and markers to each team member and relay to them the following instructions: “It is your freshman year of college and you have just recently received a copy of your hometown newspaper. An article appears in the newspaper describing your freshman year experience. Write what the headline for this article would say about you and your experience.” After all participants have completed this assignment, each will in turn share their headline with the group.
Instant Replay Have participants stand in a circle. One person says their name and does a motion for each syllable in their name. The entire group repeats the motion. Second person does same thing. Group repeats second motion, then first motion. This continues until everyone in circle has said name/motion and the entire group repeats all names. With large group, repeat up to 10 at a time.
M&M/Skittles Game Pass around to the participants a bag of M&Ms or Skittles candy. Instruct the participants to take as many pieces of candy as they care to. The participants may not eat the candy at this point. Once everyone has candy, instruct the students that based on the number of pieces of candy they have taken, they must tell one fact about themselves.
Another variation on this game is to identify specific questions related to each color of candy (i.e. red M&M is “what is your most embarrassing moment?”). After participants have taken whatever amount of candy they have, ask them to identify which color they have the most of, then instruct them to answer the question related to that color. This version is useful if participants have played it before and know not to take so much candy. You can reassure them that more is better in this case.
Name Picturebook Give each person a piece of construction paper and a string. Ask him/her to draw an object that starts with the same letter as their first name (Betty might draw a bumble bee for example), to write their name in big letters on the paper, and then hang this drawing around their neck with the string. Then, give students an opportunity to look at one another’s drawings by milling around for 5-10 minutes. Chances are that, once they have a name and a picture to associate with each group member, they’ll be better able to recall one another’s names.
Name Game Similar to Name Picturebook (and there are certainly many variations on this activity). Have group sit in a circle and ask them to pick a word that begins with the same letter as their first name – could be a country, an adjective describing themselves, food, etc. Then they introduce themselves to the group (i.e, “My name is Jolly Jenny” or “My name is April and I like Apples”). Then, move around the circle and the next person introduces themselves and then also reintroduces the person(s) before them. The last person in the circle will have to name all group participants.
Question Beach Ball Blow up a beach ball and write down different questions all over the ball. These questions should be low-level/basic get-to-know you types. Instruct participants to stand in a circle and pass the ball from one to another. Once someone catches the ball, they must read and answer the question that their right thumb lands on. Upon reading and answering the question, the person should toss the beach ball to another participant.
TWO TRUTHS & A LIE Each person must come up with three statements about themselves (can be written on a notecard or shared aloud without writing down). One statement must be false, the other two statements true. The group has to guess which one is false and which ones are true in the least amount of guesses. This can be done as a competition and/or with partners.
What’s in a Name? Ask participants to share the origins of their names. This is a good way to learn more about their family and cultural backgrounds.
WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR… Someone is selected as “it” and stands in the middle of a circle of chairs. The “it” selects a topic and announces to the group. Anyone to whom the topic pertains must switch places and find another spot to sit. The person in the middle tries to find an open spot to sit in as well. Everyone who moves must find another spot at least two people away from them. After everyone moves, one person should remain without a spot and is now the new “it”. Example of topic: “I like my neighbors who have been to Europe” or “I like my neighbors who are wearing colored underwear right now.”
HUMAN BINGO Your task is to find someone in the room to match each of the items below and have them sign their name below the item. No one can sign your sheet more than twice. A prize will be awarded to the person with the most signatures but duplicate names will only count once. Good luck!
Energizer ICEBREAKERS Anatomy Shuffle The group is divided into two circles of equal size. One circle stands outside the other so that the members of the inner circle face out to the members of the outer circle, thus creating pairs. During the game, the circles walk in opposite directions until the leader yells out two body parts (for example, head to knee or foot to elbow) at which time the partners must find each other and touch those parts. The last pair to touch is eliminated from the game and other return to the circles. The game continues until one pair wins.
ANIMAL CRACKERS Have the group sit in a circle. Each person selects an animal and identifies gesture to represent animal. Then, one person starts by doing their gesture, then a 2nd person’s gesture. Immediately, the 2nd person does their gesture and then a 3rd person’s gesture. The game continues as such. If someone hesitates in their response or does the wrong gesture, then they are out of the game.
Balloon Tag Have participants blow up their balloons (the larger, the better) and tie a string to the end of the balloon. Then have the participants tie the balloon to their ankle. It is every person for him/herself in this one! The object of the game is to pop everyone else’s balloons while making sure that your balloon does not get popped. Once the person’s balloon is popped, he/she is out of the game.
Bite the Bag The group forms a large circle. The facilitator then places a brown paper grocery bag in the center of the circle. Each members must pick the bag up with her/her teeth while standing on one foot with both hands held behind back. After the entire group has successfully completed this task, the facilitator cuts 1-2 inches off the top of the bag. If a team member touches the floor with his/her foot, or any other part of his/her body, they are disqualified. After each round, more of the bag is cut. The last participant who successfully picks up the bag without falling wins.
BUTT WRITING Have the group stand in a circle and, one by one, each individual must turn their back to the group and spell/write their name by using their butt. This can be very funny but it also needs to be done if and when your members feel comfortable with each other. Don’t force anyone to do this if they are uncomfortable with the activity.
HA! HA! Have everyone lay on floor and put their heads on someone else’s stomach. The first person says “HA”, the second person says “HA HA”, the third person says “HA HA HA”, so forth and so on. If someone actually laughs, the group has to start over from the beginning. This can be done in teams as a competition to see who can go the furthest without laughing.
HONEY, I LOVE YOU… In this game, everyone is sitting in a circle. As the facilitator, you will normally go first. The object is to identify someone in the circle, go up to them, and say “Honey, I love you but I just can’t make you laugh” with the express purpose of making them laugh. The person you are saying this to has to look at you and work at keeping a straight face. If after three tries at getting them to laugh you haven’t succeeded, pick another target. You can do just about anything to get someone to laugh except touch them. Funny faces, strange voices, props, etc are all fair game. Once a person has been made to laugh, then can no longer be a target. The game goes on until the last person either breaks down and laughs or withstands the final three attempts at getting them to laugh. Note that depending on the size of the group and the ability of folks to keep a poker face, this is often not a quick game.
Hospital Tag In this activity everyone is “it.” The objective is to keep from being “tagged” by another player, but to tag as many other people as possible. The first time you are tagged you have to put a hand on where you were tagged – for instance, if you are tagged on the top of the head, you then have to play with one hand on top of your head. You can then resume attempting to tag others. The next time you are tagged you have to put your hand where you are tagged that time. The third time you are tagged, you’re “dead” (sit down and signify this) and can no longer attempt to tag others.
It helps to have a fairly large, open space for this activity, but it normally helps to set up some boundaries to keep folks from roaming too far. Depending on people’s creative “tagging” abilities this can get pretty interesting. It shouldn’t take more than ten minutes from this energizer to run its course.
Life Saver Pass Have participants stand in a circle and give each person a toothpick to hold in their mouth. Then pick a person as a starting point and then place a Lifesaver on their toothpick. They must pass the Lifesaver on to the next person’s toothpick without using hands and dropping the candy. To provide an extra challenge, you can send a Lifesaver in the opposite direction. Be careful with this activity because participants’ mouths get very close to each other so members need to feel comfortable with each other and their “personal space.”
Melt the Ice Divide the group into two equal teams. At a starting signal, each team picks up an ice cube and melts it as quickly as possible. Group members can melt the ice cube in any fashion, except by putting it in someone’s mouth. The first team to melt their ice cube wins.
An extreme version of this activity is to get an old t-shirt, place it in a Zip-loc bag, fill the bag with water, then freeze the bag/contents. Give each team a frozen shirt and their objective is to de-thaw the shirt by whatever means they choose and put it on a team member without any use of their hands. First team to put the shirt on wins.
NOSE WIGGLE Someone needs to lay on their back, flat on the ground. A quarter is placed on the tip of their nose. The object is to get the quarter to fall off your nose by wiggling your nose but you cannot move your head/body or blow it off. This can be done as a competition by timing each individual and how long it takes to wiggle of the quarter.
Rock, Paper, Scissor Extreme You play this energizer in the normal “rock, paper, scissors” fashion. Pair the participants off. Once the winner and the loser are established, the loser must follow the winner around for the rest of the activity. The winner must find another winner to compete again, and re-evaluate the terms winner and loser. While the winner plays another winner, the loser must cheer the person on. Eventually, you are left with two people fighting with a large crowd of supporters behind them.
Travel Icebreakers Songmeister Have all participants write down two fairly common words on little scraps of paper. Gather all of these scraps in a container (hat, bag, etc). Then, divide the group into two teams. One team chooses a slip of paper and has 15 seconds to come up with eight words to a song that includes that one word. For instance, if the word is “love” then they could sing “to the love shack, love shack baby, love shack baby…” If they sing a song within 15 seconds, the other team must come up with another “love” song. This goes back and forth until one team is unable to complete the task. The last team to sing a complete eight words gets a point and the right to pick a new word. Play to 10 or 100 – it’s up to you how long you can sing!
Mad Libs An old tried and true favorite – find a book of Mad Libs and have participants complete the stories. If you have multiple vehicles on a trip, it’s great to provide one book per vehicle.
I’m Going on a Camping Trip… Finish this sentence in turn by using consecutive alphabet letters to determine your answer. For instance, “I am going on a camping trip and I am taking with me an apple.” The next person then says, “I am going on a camping trip and I am taking with me an apple and bug spray.” The third person takes an apple, bug spray, and something that begins with the letter “C”, and so on an so on.
Book of Questions There are many books you can purchase in your local bookstore that provide hundreds of thought-provoking questions for group members to answer. Some examples include “The Book of Questions” by Gregory Stock or “The Conversation Piece” by Bret Nicholaus and Paul Lowrie. Keep a book in your office/home and pack it anytime you are going on a trip or retreat.
Bumper Sticker Bingo Make a simple Bingo card with 25 boxes (five across and five down) on it. Put random letters in each box, make copies and you’ll have Bingo cards for everyone. The object of this game is to find five letters in a row by finding them on passing bumper stickers. The first one to get Bumper Sticker Bingo is the winner! You may choose to use words instead of letters on your Bingo card – it’s up to you.
Word Chain Start a word chain by choosing one word. The next person then has to choose a word that begins with the last letter of the word previously spoken (i.e. the word “frog” would lead to the word “garden” which could lead to the word “nerd”). Set a quick pace and include everyone. If you want to make it a competition, you could eliminate participants if they fumble their word or don’t respond within a set amount of time (such as 3 seconds).
Leadeship Library: Big rersource made up of books to sharpen leadership tools. Available to everyone.
Dear North Gwinnett Club Sponsors, When you think of leadership, is there a particular student(s) that comes to mind? Someone that automatically stands out in your club activities? Or maybe your whole club is full of leaders? In any case, would you not like to be able to provide them with multiple, fascinating resources to aid them in furthering their personal leadership development? If so, then you’re in luck. North Gwinnett Student Leadership Team has been working on a Leadership Library for any and all students to access so that they too can further their development as a leader not only within school but within our community. The Leadership Library will be composed of numerous books on leadership along with videos of all of the great speakers we have had here at North Gwinnett. From awe-inspiring speeches like Recinda’s to the vastly entertaining, yet motivating Judson Laipply. All of these will be available to students and teachers alike so that EVERYONE can be LEADERS. Thank you, North Gwinnett Student Leadership Team (The Leadership Library will be located in the Media Center. As of yet, the specific locale within the library is in the process of being procured but both the books and the videos will be in the same section to make it easier for access.) |
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